


Going Home

by reeby10



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Adult Sarah Williams (Labyrinth), F/M, POV Sarah Williams (Labyrinth), Post-Canon, Sarah Williams (Labyrinth) Centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26977432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeby10/pseuds/reeby10
Summary: That was her last thought before taking a deep breath, gathering every memory of the Labyrinth close to her heart, and stepping forward into the mirror.
Relationships: Jareth/Sarah Williams
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26
Collections: Fic In A Box





	Going Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [perkyplum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/perkyplum/gifts).



Sarah was bored, so very very bored. She needed a real change in her life. She’d been thinking about that for a few years, after what seemed like a lifetime of boredom, but now the boredom was truly becoming almost unbearable.

The boredom had been slowly but constantly creeping in ever since she left the Labyrinth. Finishing high school had been terrible, feeling trapped and bored all the time. She took a gap year when she graduated to go backpacking across Europe, and that had been fun for awhile. Eventually she had to go to college, though, which had been only marginally better than getting through high school. After college, in her twenties, she’d tried acting for the taste of adventure and excitement she’d craved, and it hadn’t been enough. It hadn’t felt _real_.

Now in her thirties, she’d tried pretty much anything there was to try. She’d bounced from job to job, from city to city, never feeling quite satisfied. Her dad had sighed and shook his head at her every time she told him that she was changing directions. He’d been afraid that she would crash and burn or that she wouldn’t be able to build a good future for herself.

That was true, but her inability to stay in one place wasn’t the problem. It was her memories of the Labyrinth. Nothing since then could compare.

The Labyrinth had been stressful and terrible and at the time she’d hate it and its king, true. But even then, it had been exciting and interesting. It had caught her attention the way nothing else had since then and she missed it desperately. She wanted to go back.

And she thought, after seventeen years, it was time. Her dad had passed last year and Toby, her only other real family — her only other real connection at all, since she had never found friends as good as the ones she’d made in the Labyrinth — was heading off to college. He didn’t need her anymore, if he ever had since they’d come back.

With no reason to keep chasing the excitement she knew she’d never be able to find here, it was time to return to the Labyrinth, this time for good. She knew if she went back purposefully she’d never be able to leave again, but she was fine with that. Perhaps Jareth would help her check in on Toby every once in a while. That’s all she really needed.

She wrote one last letter to Toby — a goodbye of sorts, as well as a hope to see you again someday — and wrote out a quick note to her lawyer, the executor of her will. She didn’t bother closing up any of her other affairs. They didn’t matter and weren’t worth the effort.

With that done, she changed into a dress she’d gotten just a few days earlier. She’d seen it in the window of the store as she passed by and immediately stopped. It wasn’t quite so poofy or glamorous as the dress she’d worn so many years ago to the masquerade, but it reminded her of that dress all the same. She bought it immediately. If she was honest, seeing it there on the mannequin had probably been what solidified her choice to go back to the Labyrinth now.

She admired herself in the dress in the mirror for a moment, smiling. It looked good on her, made her feel like herself in a way that no other clothing had in almost twenty years. She hoped Jareth would like the dress.

That was her last thought before taking a deep breath, gathering every memory of the Labyrinth close to her heart, and stepping forward into the mirror.

It felt like water washing over her, icy cold and biting, but it only lasted for a moment. She opened her eyes and she was there again, in the same place Jareth had first brought her to tell her the challenge he was setting for her to rescue Toby.

Relief hit her like a wave, surprising her. She hadn’t worried about being let back in to the world of the Labyrinth, not really. She hadn’t _let_ herself worry. She had every faith that Jareth would allow her back, welcome her even. But doubt had still poked at the edges. She supposed so long back in the unmagical world of her birth would do that. Things were different there.

But she was here now, in the Labyrinth. It looked exactly as she remembered. Exactly as she’d dreamed almost daily for years, when the longing to go back started to truly take over. She smiled.

She was home.

Sarah took a deep breath, feeling the electricity of the magical world around her flow through her lungs, leaving every inch of her body feeling like it was thrumming with energy. She set off down the same path she’d taken so long ago, though her steps were slower as she took time to really look at everything around her.

The rush of time ticking down hadn’t given her the chance to do so last time, but this time there was no clock, no deadline. There was only her and the Labyrinth, growing ever closer with each meandering step.

Somewhere inside those winding walls was Jareth, she knew. The idea of seeing him again made her heart beat faster with excitement, but she didn’t let that hasten her pace. She’d get there when she got there, whether that was minutes or hours or days. For now she wanted to refamiliarize herself with everything the path had to offer. She would, after all, stay this time, so it made sense to not let everything just pass her by again.

By the time she made it to the Labyrinth walls, she wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Not that it mattered. Time was different here anyway, and she had no schedule. It made her smile to think of that after so long feeling the pressure of time passing back in her old home.

She ran one hand along the stone wall in front of her and a feeling of rightness fell over her. She felt connected to the Labyrinth, to Jareth, to the magic she knew was all around her. Over time she hoped to find out more about that magic, perhaps learn to wield some of it herself like she’d seen Jareth do, but for now she just savored the feeling.

Her hand slid out into emptiness, though her eyes couldn’t see the entrance she’d apparently found. She blinked and suddenly it became clear to her, making her smile. It seemed the Labyrinth was welcoming her in its own way.

She stepped through the entrance, looking left and right. Paths stretched both ways as far as she could see, neither giving an indication of what might lay beyond her sight. After a few moments consideration, she decided to go left, and reached out her hand to trail along the opposite stone wall again.

Except, her hand didn’t meet a wall.

There was another hidden entrance right in front of her. It seemed strange to have such a direct route right here at the beginning of the Labyrinth. Perhaps it was just giving her a little head start? Perhaps there had been just as many hidden paths just like this last time? She didn’t think so, but she couldn’t be completely sure.

She shrugged, figuring this was just one of many things in this world she’d not ever understand, and walked forward. This side looked just the same as the last, nothing standing out down either way. She raised her hand to the far wall and touched nothing.

Frowning, she sped up her steps and reached for the next wall. Nothing again. And again. And again.

Finally she stopped, realizing she’d been practically running. Which would have been bad if there had been actual walls in front of her to run into, but everything seemed to be an illusion. The hidden entryways in the Labyrinth walls lined up in a way she had been sure they shouldn’t. Or couldn’t, perhaps, there wasn’t much distinction. Either way, she was confused.

That, at least, was to be expected. The Labyrinth was full of wonder and confusion. It had been when she’d fought her way through it before, and she’d never once thought it would be any different now. But now she belonged there, wanted to be there, and the confusion was just one more wonder of the Labyrinth for her to gaze upon.

She started forward again, slowly, taking in the small details — the little pink flowers sprouting in a zigzag pattern up one wall, the shimmery blue stone embedded in one of the larger rocks that made up the wall — like she’d meant to in the first place. She still kept a hand up every time she approached the next wall, but still the hidden entrances opened up a pathway straight ahead for her.

It was hard to tell how much time passed as she walked, though it hardly mattered now. She wasn’t on a deadline. She had all the time in the world to meander through the Labyrinth, not caring how quickly she got to the middle, where Jareth would be waiting for her.

Finally, though, she made it to the center of the Labyrinth. It wasn’t like she’d thought it would be, seeing it from a distance and knowing when she would approach. Instead she was just suddenly there. The straight pathways she’d been passing had never given way to any of the nooks and crannies and oddities she remembered from before, they just went on and on and on and then stopped. She stepped through a hidden entryway in a wall and there she was.

She’d been too distracted with finding Toby to pay much attention to this area last time. That was what a deadline, the quickly passing minutes on the clock, brought her. She paid attention this time. Everything seemed to glitter, even the shadows, where she thought she saw movement one moment and then not the next.

Her eyes, though, were drawn to the throne, surrounded by dancing goblins. They jumped and twirled, bounding round and round as they whooped and cackled. She found herself smiling without even really meaning too. She’d hated them last time, thought they were just creepy little creatures who stood between her and her brother. Now they were just one more part of the Labyrinth, one more strange and endearing facet of her new life here.

But of course the strangest and most endearing being in all the Labyrinth was the one sprawled out on the throne, one leg flung over an arm of the throne, scepter tapping out a beat she didn’t recognize on the other arm. Jareth looked relaxed and regal staring at her as she stepped closer and closer.

She stopped a few feet in front of the throne, feeling like she might vibrate right out of her skin with excitement. She felt overwhelmed in the best way, being so close to him again after dreaming every night for years about just this situation.

They stared at one another, both quiet, for several long moments as the goblins continued to dance. It could have been hours for all she knew, everything around her — around them — fading into the background. Her whole focus was Jareth, eyes locked on his as she waited.

“Hello, Sarah.”

His voice was like music to her ears, a balm against the pain of so much time away in a world she didn’t belong in. She took another step forward, and almost at the same moment, he swung his leg around and moved smoothly down from the throne. They ended up just a foot away from each other, close enough that she could feel his presence, electric and _real_.

She smiled and took the last step forward, pressing her lips to his. When she pulled back, he was smiling too.

“Hello, Jareth,” she breathed out against his mouth. “I’m home.”


End file.
